A blog launched on the 41st anniversary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the first pro-life organisation in the world, established on 11 January 1967. SPUC has been a leader in the educational and political battle against abortion, human embryo experimentation and euthanasia since then. I write this blog in my role as SPUC's chief executive, commenting on pro-life news, reflecting on pro-life issues and promoting SPUC's work.

Friday, 30 August 2013

"Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be honoured for her work when she visits Scotland next month.

She will address academics and students at St Andrews University before being given an honorary degree.

The visit on 13 and 14 September comes as the university continues to mark its 600th anniversary.

St Andrews principal Professor Louise Richardson said she was delighted the wife of former president Bill Clinton would be attending.

Mrs Clinton will be honoured for her efforts in championing the causes of education, human rights, democracy, civil society and promoting opportunities for females around the world.

Professor Richardson said: "We are absolutely delighted that Secretary Clinton will join us and other distinguished guests from around the world as we celebrate 600 years of university education in St Andrews."

...

"As one of the most influential women in the world, Hillary Clinton, as stateswoman, senator, and policymaker, never shied away from tackling difficult questions, working to make the world a better place, inspiring others, speaking out for the voiceless and striving ever to excel.""

Hillary Clinton is one of the world's most prominent pro-abortion public figures. For example:

at a major international conference in 1995, she said: “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights”, which has been used ever since by the pro-abortion lobby at the UN to push for the so-called 'women's right' to abortion to be enshrined as a human right

in April 2007, she condemned the US Supreme Court's upholding of the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, as contrary to "a woman’s right to choose" and "constitutional rights"

in July 2008, she attacked health professionals' right to conscientious objection to abortion and abortifacient birth control

in April 2009, Planned Parenthood, America's main abortion provider, awarded her the Margaret Sanger Award, the foundress of the worldwide pro-abortion movement. In her acceptance speech, Mrs Clinton said: "I admire Margaret Sanger enormously" and "I want to assure you that reproductive rights and the umbrella issue of women's rights and empowerment will be a key to the foreign policy of [the Obama] Administration". (Read SPUC's youth blog on The Life and Crimes of Margaret Sanger: Part I, II, III, IV and V.)

also in April 2009, she told the US Congress that: "We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health and reproductive health includes access to abortion ... ”

in January 2010, she renewed the Obama administration's commitment to bankroll abortion worldwide

in March 2010, she called upon Brazil to consider legalising abortion, describing it as "a fundamental personal right"

later in March 2010, she said: "You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health. And reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion".

Please write to Professor Louise Richardson, the Principal of the University of St Andrews, to protest at the planned honour for Mrs Clinton, explaining why Mrs Clinton's promotion of abortion is contrary to "education, human rights, democracy, civil society and promoting opportunities for females around the world" and " working to make the world a better place, inspiring others, speaking out for the voiceless". You can email Professor Richardson at principal@st-andrews.ac.uk or write to her at:
College Gate
North Street
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9AJ

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Pro-abortion journalist calls for polyamory following same-sex marriage law

A prominent pro-abortion campaigning journalist has called for legal recognition of polyamourous arrangements. Laurie Penny wrote in The Guardian: "During the recent debates around the legalisation of gay marriage, Tory critics warned that the next, unthinkable step would be multiple marriage. I can't be the only one who wondered if that'd be such a bad idea." [Guardian, 20 August] Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "True marriage both protects children and provides a lifelong commitment affirming the irreplaceable dignity of a complementary spouse. These are among the main reasons why societies have always been more favourable towards monogamy and less favourable towards polyamourous arrangements, which historically are very rare. The fluidity, complexity and individualism inherent in polyamory makes such arrangements highly unstable and therefore poorly suited to responsible parenthood. One fears a ready recourse to abortion in the event of an unplanned conception within a sexually uncommitted polyamourous arrangement. It is therefore unsurprising that an active campaigner for abortion such as Laurie Penny is also now arguing for polyamory. Legally-recognised polyamorous arrangements would be a logical progression from the same-sex marriage law, as both are based on a separation of sex from responsible parenthood. Children both born and unborn are best protected by the natural family based on the union of one man with one woman ordered towards childbearing." [John Smeaton, 27 August]

A prominent pro-abortion campaigning journalist has called for legal recognition of polyamourous arrangements. Laurie Penny wrote (Guardian, 20 August]):

"During the recent debates around the legalisation of gay marriage, Tory critics warned that the next, unthinkable step would be multiple marriage. I can't be the only one who wondered if that'd be such a bad idea."

"True marriage both protects children and provides a lifelong commitment affirming the irreplaceable dignity of a complementary spouse. These are among the main reasons why societies have always been more favourable towards monogamy and less favourable towards polyamourous arrangements, which historically are very rare. The fluidity, complexity and individualism inherent in polyamory makes such arrangements highly unstable and therefore poorly suited to responsible parenthood. One fears a ready recourse to abortion in the event of an unplanned conception within a sexually uncommitted polyamourous arrangement. It is therefore unsurprising that an active campaigner for abortion such as Laurie Penny is also now arguing for polyamory. Legally-recognised polyamorous arrangements would be a logical progression from the same-sex marriage law, as both are based on a separation of sex from responsible parenthood. Children both born and unborn are best protected by the natural family based on the union of one man with one woman ordered towards childbearing."

Thursday, 22 August 2013

Obianuju ("Uju") Ekeocha, founder and president of Culture of Life Africa, was interviewed (see YouTube recording below) recently on EWTN's Catholic Connection programme about her pro-life/pro-family work. Readers may recall that Uju was instrumental in the fantastic pro-life/pro-family conference and march in Nigeria in June, which was supported by SPUC. Amidst much positive feedback to Uju's appearance, the presenter Teresa Tomeo received an anonymous email attacking Uju's opposition to contraception:

"If your friend from Africa is opposed to birth control, she doesn't have to use it.

It's none of her business, or yours for that matter, if non-catholics in Africa or anywhere else use it.

Your approach is one of extremism and fanaticism, which I find disturbing at best."

"I worked in a major hospital in my country long enough to see first-hand the detriment of wide-scale government or donor-sponsored contraception programs in Africa."

...

"[T]he cheapest products in our African pharmacy stores today are contraceptive drugs and devices (condoms, etc.). It is even cheaper for a woman to get contraceptives for herself than for her to buy life-saving antibiotics for her child. Why? Because, contraceptives have been heavily subsidised by the big international aid organisations and pharmaceutical companies".

...

"Today, in Abuja (the capital of my country), Marie Stopes International (prominent abortion provider founded in the UK) have their family planning clinic located on the busiest street of the city."

...

"[W]hat Africa needs at this time is not a sexual revolution (which has not worked well in the Western world), rather what we need is authentic and sustainable development within the social and cultural frame work of our faith and family-oriented values."

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

SPUC comments on British PM's pub meeting with gay activist comedian
SPUC has commented on the meeting between David Cameron, the British prime minister, and Stephen Fry, the homosexual activist and comedian. The two were invited to meet by Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the pro-homosexual London Evening Standard newspaper, at a London pub owned jointly by Lebedev and Sir Ian McKellen, the homosexual activist and actor. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the UK's response to Russia's laws on homosexuality. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, told LifeSiteNews.com: "David Cameron's pub meeting suggests that he is now an actual leader of the homosexualist lobby, and that he prefers the company of his party's left-wing opponents to its own traditional supporters. One suspects that Mr Cameron is privately pleased that huge numbers of pro-family Tories are fleeing from the Conservative party. All prime ministers are desperate to leave their mark on history, and Mr Cameron is delighted to leave the destruction of true marriage as his legacy. The cost, of course, will be be paid by future generations, especially children both born and unborn." [LifeSiteNews.com, 19 August]

"A dangerous belief is gaining ground, even among Catholics, that a juridical recognition of homosexual cohabitation is the only way to avoid "gay marriage." "No to gay marriage, yes to the rights of de facto couples and homosexuals" is the watchword of those who want to organise a line of resistance based on the disastrous policy of "giving in so as not to lose." This is not only a colossal strategic error but also - and above all - a grave moral one."

"If the principle is accepted that the lesser evil can be committed in order to obtain a larger good, then Catholics would be able to promote therapeutic abortion in order to avoid selective abortion; they could promote homologous artificial insemination in order to avoid heterologous artificial insemination; they could support civil unions in order to avoid homosexual marriage. But, doing this, the whole edifice of morality would collapse because, from lesser evil to lesser evil, every single moral choice could be speciously justified."

"[E]ven some personalities from the Catholic world are saying that the recognition of homosexual unions is de facto a "lesser evil" which might be undertaken in order to avoid the "greater evil" of "gay marriage." But from the moral point of view, the legal recognition of homosexual unions is just as grave as putting them on the same level as marriage. This is why the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its document entitled Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons (3 June 2003) and approved by John Paul II, sets down that "respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.""

"Voting in favour of a law such as this is to make oneself complicit in an evil which is in no way destroyed by the supposed "damage limitation." If there were two laws in Parliament, one which legalised homosexual marriage and the other which recognised the rights of homosexual couples but did not equate their union with marriage, Catholics could not vote in favour of the latter on the basis that it was "less bad" than the first. If the worse law were to pass, then the responsibility for it would fall on those who had signed it."

Irish Catholic hospital not allowed to opt out of abortion requirement: government [LifeSiteNews.com, 12 August]Pope Francis issues pro-life/pro-family mission statements for all Catholics
Pope Francis issued two strong pro-life/pro-family messages last week. In a message to Brazilian families, he said: "In a particular way, faced with the culture of waste, that relativizes the value of human life, parents are called to pass on to their children the understanding that this must always be defended, already in the mother's womb". And in a message to a Catholic men's fraternity, he called upon them to "bear witness to the authentic nature of marriage and the family, the sanctity and inviolable dignity of human life, and the beauty and truth of human sexuality." John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: "It is clear, from both the details and the contexts, that these are mission statements, not just for parents or for the Knights of Columbus, but for all the faithful." [John Smeaton, 12 August]

Concern about maternity unit closures and midwives shortages
The group "Save St Helier" is concerned that the proposed closure of the maternity unit at St Helier hospital, Sutton, will jeopardise the safety of expectant mothers and their unborn children, by forcing them to travel all the way to the maternity unit at St George's hospital, Tooting. They argue that St George's is already under increasing strain, and that many such journeys would have to be undertaken during rush-hours on already traffic-jammed roads. SPUC is encouraging its members to read more about these issues and make their concerns known to their local MP and GPs. [John Smeaton, 9 August]

Monday, 12 August 2013

In a letter dated 6 August from Pope Francis to Brazilian families marking National Families Week, the Holy Father says:

"In a particular way, faced with the culture of waste, that relativizes the value of human life, parents are called to pass on to their children the understanding that this must always be defended, already in the mother's womb, recognizing in it a gift from God and an assurance of mankind's future, but also in the care shown to the elderly, particularly to grandparents, who are the living memory of a people and the transmitters of life's wisdom."

And last week the text of a pro-life/pro-family message from Pope Francis to the Knights of Columbus was published. The message, sent via a letter from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was sent to greet the Knights during their annual Convention. The Knights of Columbus are a Catholic charitable fraternity. I am a knight of the equivalent fraternity in England, the Knights of St Columba (KSC), which has given decades of wonderful support to SPUC and the pro-life movement generally.

The letter from Cardinal Bertone says (my emphases in bold):

"His Holiness was pleased to learn that this year’s Supreme Convention has drawn its theme — "Be Protectors of God’s Gifts" — from his homily at the Mass inaugurating his papal ministry, which by a happy coincidence fell on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. As protector of the Holy Family, the humble carpenter of Nazareth is a model of the manly virtues of quiet strength, integrity and fidelity which the Knights of Columbus have sought to preserve, cultivate and pass on to new generations of Catholic men. It was in fact as a protective association that your Order was founded in the late nineteenth century, in response to the need to promote the material and spiritual welfare of working men and their families, the dignity of labor and the demands of social justice, and the advancement of the Church’s mission. In fidelity to this founding vision, the Knights continue to play an outstanding role in helping Catholic men to respond to their vocation to be “protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment” (Homily, 19 March 2013).

Among the first acts of his pontificate, the Holy Father wished to add the name of Saint Joseph to each of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Mass. It is his hope that the Knights, in venerating the memory of this great Saint, will beg his intercession for the protection of the many blessings which the Lord has poured out upon them and their families, and work with ever greater commitment for the spread of the Gospel, the conversion of hearts and the renewal of the temporal order in Christ (cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7). Conscious of the specific responsibility which the lay faithful have for the Church’s mission, he invites each Knight, and every Council, to bear witness to the authentic nature of marriage and the family, the sanctity and inviolable dignity of human life, and the beauty and truth of human sexuality. In this time of rapid social and cultural changes, the protection of God’s gifts cannot fail to include the affirmation and defense of the great patrimony of moral truths taught by the Gospel and confirmed by right reason, which serve as the bedrock of a just and well-ordered society.

For this reason His Holiness once more expresses his appreciation of the clear public witness offered by the Knights of Columbus in protecting the right and duty of believers to participate responsibly, on the basis of their deepest convictions, in the life of society. In his Encyclical Lumen Fidei, he pointed out that faith, precisely because it embraces God’s truth, sheds light on the authentic meaning and purpose of life, strengthens the bonds uniting individuals and communities, and thus serves as a trustworthy foundation for building a just and humane society (cf. 50-51)."

It is clear, from both the details and the contexts, that these are mission statements, not just for parents or for the Knights of Columbus, but for all the faithful.

Friday, 9 August 2013

"Maternity wards in England are shutting their doors a total of more than 1,000 times a year forcing expecting mothers to seek care elsewhere or give birth at home, according to new figures ... Maternity wards are facing growing pressure because of a shortage of midwives and the increasing birth rate, which rose to 688,000 live births in England in 2011 — the highest total since 1971."

"The number of London hospitals with maternity units could be almost halved to concentrate specialist care on fewer larger sites."

The group "Save St Helier" is concerned that the proposed closure of the maternity unit at St Helier hospital, Sutton, will jeopardise the safety of expectant mothers and their unborn children, by forcing them to travel all the way to the maternity unit at St George's hospital, Tooting. They argue that St George's is already under increasing strain, and that many such journeys would have to be undertaken during rush-hours on already traffic-jammed roads.

I would encourage SPUC supporters to read more about these issues and make their concerns known to their local MP and GPs. Among SPUC's official aims are:

To reassert the principle laid down in the United Nations 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child that the child "needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth."

To defend, assist and promote the life and welfare of mothers during pregnancy and of their children from the time of conception up to, during and after birth.

Austria police arrest 34 after pro-abortion attacks on peaceful pro-life rally
34 anti-life/anti-family protesters have been arrested after trying to disrupt a pro-life rally in the Austrian city of Salzburg. Joannes Bucher of Human Life International (HLI) reported that the protesters "carried a big black banner depicting the HLI logo inside of a condom which read, “Prevent forced reproduction. Abortion on demand for everyone!" The 1,000 Crosses for Life march has also been attacked in the past. [LifeNews.com, 1 August]

Friday, 2 August 2013

Nicklinson-Lamb euthanasia ruling welcomed but 'Martin' assisted suicide ruling carries danger for disabled people
SPUC Pro-Life has welcomed the fact that the murder law has been upheld in today’s judgment in the Nicklinson and Lamb euthanasia cases. However, the majority judgment in the case of the anonymous third man, 'Martin', is deeply disturbing. Paul Tully, SPUC Pro-Life's general secretary, said: "If implemented it could encourage the pro-euthanasia lobby to recruit paid medical and legal professionals to organise the suicides of suffering and disabled people. [SPUC, 31 July]

Ethical campaigners saddened by final approval of Wales opt-out organ bill
Ethical campaigners have expressed their sadness following final approval of a bill in Wales to create an opt-out system for organ transplantation. Members of the Wales region of SPUC are saddened that the Secretary of State for Wales has decided not to use his powers to block the Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill from being sent to Her Majesty the Queen for Royal Assent. Michael Wendell Thomas, vice-chairman of SPUC's Wales region, said: "A collective weight of opinion has demonstrated that implementation of the Bill will be fraught with risk. "Members of SPUC's Wales region will remain vigilant regarding this ill-considered piece of legislation. We will campaign wherever possible to mitigate the effects that it may have on the weak and vulnerable in our midst. [SPUC, 31 July]

Family campaigners worldwide must protest against Cameron’s plan to export same-sex marriage
SPUC is calling upon family campaigners worldwide to protest against the British prime minister’s plan to export same-sex marriage, following David Cameron’s speech last night at a reception at No. 10 Downing Street, the prime ministerial residence, to thank those who had engineered the rail-roading of Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act through Parliament. John Smeaton, SPUC’s chief executive, called for international resistance to the British prime minister’s global plans to impose sexual licence on children and poor families. He said: “SPUC will be contacting church leaders, politicians and family campaigners worldwide to alert them to this threat by the British government, asking them to protest to the British embassies in their countries. Same-sex marriage is a counterfeit version of marriage and thus undermines real marriage, which is the best protector of children, both born and unborn. [SPUC, 25 July]

John Smeaton

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 39 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to SPUC's staff, supporters and advisers for their help to me in researching, writing and producing this blog.

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